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'Saturday Night Live' adds black female cast member

By Staff, Associated Press

Posted:
01/06/2014 03:39:43 PM MST

Sasheer Zamata poses for a photograph for an ABC series, "Would You Fall For That?" in 2013. The black comedian will be joining the cast of "Saturday Night Live," NBC has announced. (Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images)

“Saturday Night Live” is adding a black woman to its cast after being criticized for a lack of diversity.

NBC said Monday that Sasheer Zamata will join the show later this month. She is a recent University of Virginia graduate who has worked for the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group in New York City.

“SNL” hasn't had a black woman among its regular cast members since the biracial Maya Rudolph left in 2007. It has had four black women in its regular troupe since premiering in 1975.

It became an issue earlier this season after the show's two black male cast members, Jay Pharoah and Kenan Thompson, made comments about the absence. It also was joked about onscreen when Kerry Washington of “Scandal” was a guest host.